Augustus Russell Street

Who was Augustus Russell Street?

Augustus Russell Street was a philanthropist who made significant donations to Yale University.

He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Titus Street, the founder of Streetsboro Township, Ohio, and his wife, née Amaryllis Atwater. He was graduated from Yale in 1812 where he studied law, but he abandoned the profession for health reasons. He traveled in Europe from 1843 to 1848 studying art and modern languages. He inherited a fortune and used it for philanthropic endeavors.

He gave Yale its School of Fine Arts; Street Hall, named for him, was designed by Peter Bonnett Wight. He also established the Street Professorship of Modern Languages and the Titus Street Professorship in the Yale Theological department.

He married Caroline Mary Leffingwell on 16 October 1815; they had seven daughters, all of whom predeceased them. Only the eldest, Caroline Augusta Street, married and had children; her husband was Admiral Andrew Hull Foote.